–Six labourers were gunned down while fixing company’s cellphone tower in Liji area of Balochistan’s Kharan district
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday ordered cellular service provider Ufone to submit a complete financial plan for compensation to the families of six labourers who were gunned down while fixing the company’s cellphone tower in the Liji area, in Balochistan’s Kharan district on May 3.
The gun attack orchestrated by unidentified motorcyclists left six labourers belonging to Okara dead, while another was severely injured.
A two-judge bench ─ comprising Justice Umar Atta Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan ─ heard the case after Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar took suo motu notice of the matter on May 5.
In Wednesday’s hearing, the lawyer representing Ufone told the court that the widows of three of the labourers would receive Rs20,000 per month and the company would pay for the educational expenses for their children.
“The families of the labourers will also receive Rs1 million,” he said.
When asked about the labourer injured in the attack, the company’s lawyer told the court that he had been moved to a hospital in Lahore for treatment.
Hearing this, the bench ordered that Ufone should present a financial plan for compensation in court.
The court also asked the additional advocate general, who was present in court, to see what measures the Punjab and Balochistan governments were taking for the families of the labourers.
“I can find out and let the court know about the provincial policy regarding providing compensation to the affected families,” the AAG said as the hearing was adjourned until Thursday, May 17.
In a previous hearing of the case, conducted on May 11 at the Quetta registry of the SC, the chief justice had regretted that no security had been provided to the workers, and was told by the home secretary that Ufone’s contractor had neither applied for a no-objection certificate nor asked the government to provide security to the workers.
